Uzbekistan: Ministry of Economy and Finance continues the Seal journey

The Ministry of Economy and Finance of Uzbekistan (MoEF) and UNDP organized a three-day capacity building event on the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions on 23-26 October in Tashkent. The event brought together officers from different departments and divisions of the MoEF in addition to selected officers from other government departments, including the Customs Committee and the Commission on Enhancing the Role of Women in Society, Gender Equality and the Family. The event marks an important reaffirmation of the MoEF´s dedication and commitment to gender equality, making it the second institution in Uzbekistan to implement the Gender Equality Seal, after the State Customs Committee.

The MoEF is responsible for a wide range of critical policy domains, including public financial management, budgeting, taxation and economic policy to name only a few. Its commitment to advancing gender equality by implementing the Seal is particularly important given its prominent and catalytic role in Uzbekistan, an example of true leadership that will surely inspire other government departments in the country to follow suit.

Uzbekistan is also one of the focus countries of the Tax for SDGs Initiative under which it has committed to exploring how taxation can be leveraged to promote the Sustainable Development Goals, including SDG 5 on Gender Equality. UNDP´s Gender Team and Tax for SDGs Initiative recently rolled out a new UNDP Gender Equality Seal stream targeting Ministries of Finance and Tax Administrations.

The opening ceremony of the event was attended by several senior figures, including Tanzila Narbaeva Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Gulnara Rakhimova, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Otabek Choriev, Deputy Chairman of the Customs Committee under the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Anas Fayyad Qarman, Deputy Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Uzbekistan and Ana Landa Ugarte, UNDP Gender Equality Seal Programme Coordinator (online).

In her opening remarks, the Deputy Minister for Economy and Finance highlighted ongoing efforts to promote gender equality within Uzbekistan’s public sector. She emphasized the need to enhance specialized education and skill development for women, aiming to increase their representation in expert roles across the Ministry and other government departments. The Global Coordinator of the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions congratulated the leadership of the Ministry in her opening speech and further remarked that the Seal would undoubtably help to make meaningful progress towards gender equality in line with national and international commitments including Agenda 2030.

“We are very happy to welcome the Ministry of Economy and Commerce in Uzbekistan to our Gender Equality Seal global family and community of practice, as the first Ministry of Economy and Finance in the Central Asia region. We are ready and excited to support you“

Ana Landa, Global Coordinator of the Gender Equality Seal for Public Institutions, UNDP

The three-day training covered a variety of topics, including an introduction to the Gender Equality Seal for public institutions followed by more in-depth sessions on each of the Seal’s dimensions, standards and benchmarks. The Customs Committee also presented its experience implementing the Seal so far, having already completed a self-evaluation to set the baseline and designed an action plan for improvement, a key milestone on the Seal journey.